I have been remiss in updating my blog, with good reason. On Tuesday I lost my dear aunt Bardha. She and my uncle Deda were the main reason for our move to Albania, and we sure had hoped to have at least a few years with them both. As it turned out, God had other plans. She suffered a stroke on Sunday, March 10th and was gone on Tuesday, March 19th. I was with her all the way and am glad that we came here to Shkodra when we did. Our original plan was to wait until the spring. Well I am sure glad we didn’t wait and that things worked out in our favor with the move so that at least we were able to spend the holidays and the last four months making her life a little happier, I think, I know she sure made ours richer and fuller with her wit and love. We will miss her dearly and yes, our plan is to remain here in Shkodra and live with my uncle and cousin in the family home.

My friend, Tome Mrijaj, wrote a great article about the life of my aunt in the Albanian paper Tribuna Shiqptare that I would like to share with you “Shuhet pishtarja e lirisë dhe demokracisë antikomunistja Bardha Gjomarku”.

She was a great lady and a true Princess!

This post is dedicated to my husband Vince. That’s him waving from our bedroom window. I have to hand it to him, he has been great since this whole adventure began, supportive and behind me the whole way and ready to help in any way. Always with a smile on his face and a positive attitude through the whole transition. He has been a rock and I couldn’t have done it without him. He truly is one-of-a-kind and I am very grateful to have shared my life with him for the last 32 years! I love you!

We are almost ready to move into my family home, just a few more days of last minute touch ups. I am sure many of you know it is not easy going through a renovation and even though we’ve had our ups and downs, in the end it all turned out fine and worth the wait and occasional aggravation. We are both looking forward to this new chapter in our lives, one which I hope will be filled with great memories, not only for the two of us but also for my aunt Bardha and uncle Deda. In these last years of their lives it feels good to know that we can provide them with some constant company and will be available to them if and when the need should arise. My cousin Gjilda has been a trooper through all this as well and she certainly merits our respect and affection. Once we’re fully moved in and settled we will concentrate on exploring more of what this beautiful country has to offer. Until then….

Today marked the beginning of Carnevale (Carnival). The Carnival is an annual festival, held in Italy and many places around the world. The Carnival ends with Lent, forty days before Easter on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Martedì Grasso), the day before Ash Wednesday. In Shkodra, it is celebrated with festivities along the pedonale in the center of the city. There a dances performed by students representing the local schools, parades and vendors line up the main walkway selling local handmade crafts.

We took a walk around to experience some of the sights and below are a couple of photos and videos, albeit amateur, that I took to post. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Yesterday we took a ride to Velipoja…stunning! We decided to take a Sunday afternoon ride outside the city. Velipoja is situated on the estuary of the River Buna (the only navigable river of Albania), where it flows into the Adriatic Sea while making border with Montenegro. The Commune (i.e. the administrative unit) of Velipoja has a population of around 10,000, spread over several small settlements, the largest of which is the town of Velipoja itself. Typically not a wealthy area, and like the rest of the country subject to much emigration, Velipoja has recently begun to expand as a tourist resort, favored especially by the inhabitants of Shkodër, the chief city of northern Albania.

I have to admit I miss the beach and needed to reconnect to the sea, so we thought “let’s go to Velipoja”. It’s only about half an hour outside of Shkoder and an easy ride. The weather was perfect and the roads fairly clear as it was early afternoon, a time where everyone was either lunching or napping. We took the highway and turned on the road to Velipoja. We went through a few rural towns which were still reminiscent of the earlier years, if you know what I mean, however half way into our trip we came upon a beautiful clearing with gorgeous mountain views and hills resembling Tuscany. As we made our way I kept wondering where the water was. After a while we turned heading towards the center of the city and there it was, the sea! and what a sight it was.

We heard about a new resort that is being built on a site just outside of the main “drag” and headed that way. The Grand Europa Resort sits on primary beachfront property and what they are building is on a grand scale. We met with the engineer, Bardh, and he took us to the top floor of one of the five story apartment buildings. These photos are the result of the spectacular view from the top, it reminded me of LaJolla, CA, another spectacular place on this earth.

Getting to the site was a bit of a challenge as we weren’t sure where it was situated. We stopped a lady by the grocery store and she, as all Albanians we encountered, was more than glad to “show us the way”. She took us about 10 minutes through muddy, potholed back roads until we reached the construction site. She was more than happy to have brought us there, and I can’t tell you enough what a pleasure it has been to encounter such friendly, smiling people ALL the time. It amazes me for all that the Albanian people have lived through and suffered how their enthusiasm for life, friendliness and overall attitude towards strangers is unwavering. I am not saying this just because I am Albanian, but because it is the truth. I don’t think you would find more friendly, outgoing, hardworking and helpful people anywhere!

On our way home Vince stopped to take these stunning views of the mountains, but of course photos do not do this country justice, especially in and around Shkoder. This area in the north is the least promoted in the country and to me the most beautiful in all of Albania, and I for one am going to do everything possible to get the word out to anyone who will listen to “COME AND VISIT, SEE FOR YOURSELVES“, I know that you will not be disappointed. Shkoder has so much to offer; stunning lake and rivers, gorgeous mountain views, a great walking city, friendliest people on earth, great food, relaxing atmosphere and more. It’s not the metropolitan city that Tirana is, nor the Riviera of the South, but it is located in the most spectacular part of the country, it has everything that the rest of the country has to offer and more, stunning views!! If nothing else one must come just to see the absolutely magnificent mountains. The city is nestled in the valley and surrounded by them, everywhere you look there they are, beautiful and majestic. Velipoje is just another sparkling gem surrounding the diamond that is Shkoder!

This documentary was produced by Albania’s Top Channel TV and it features my family and our ancestral home in Shkodra. All the photos used in the video were obtained from the site I created on the family. The documentary is very well done and interesting to watch. It is in Albanian, however you can get a feel for the history just by watching. If you’re interested in reading more about my family (in English), feel free to click on this link wwww.gjonmarkagjonifund.org which will take you to my family’s website. Enjoy!

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